Tardo Hammer, Grant Stewart and Sam Minaie
to play at Soka University’s
Jazz Monsters Concert
November 21, 2008
ALISO VIEJO, CA – New York jazz greats Tardo Hammer (piano) and Grant Stewart (tenor sax) will be accompanied by Sam Minaie (bass) when they play Friday, November 21, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. in Founders Hall at Soka University, located at 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo. Admission is $15 at the door for adults, free for under 18. Early arrivals may dine at the Soka Bistro “All You Can Eat Buffet” for $10, which opens 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Directions and map are available at www.soka.edu/directions.
Soka University’s Jazz Monsters series will continue indoors in Founders Hall at 7 pm:
* January 23, 2009 with the Roy McCurdy Trio including Llew Matthews and John Belzaguy
* February 27, 2009 with Larry Koonse on guitar and Darek Oles on bass
* March 27, 2009 with Larry Vuckovich’s Trio from San Francisco
Background on Tardo Hammer
November finds Tardo Hammer, age 50, performing on both U.S. coasts. In New York he’ll play with Annie Ross at the Metropolitan Room. He has been accompanist and musical director for vocalist Annie Ross since 1994. In California he’ll team with Grant Stewart at Soka University and the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society (Half Moon Bay) and at the Cellar in Vancouver, B.C..
Hammer has played internationally in Japan, Spain, France, Italy. He has played with Lou Donaldson, Bill Hardman, Junior Cook, Annie Ross, Art Farmer, Vernel Fournier and Clifford Jordan. Sharp Nine Records sought him out to record as a leader, and of his four recordings, “Look Stop and Listen” was named as one of the top ten CDs of 2007 in Downbeat, The Village Voice, and All About Jazz. Tardo Hammer is on the faculty of the New School, “a global university” in Greenwich Village, New York and the Lucy Moses School near Lincoln Center and is active as an educator conducting classes and lessons at colleges and clinics worldwide.
Background on Grant Stewart
If you listen to any local jazz radio at all, you’ve heard a lot of the great New York saxophonist Grant Stewart. He is a major presence on the albums of Mike Melito, Bob Sneider, and the late Bob Stata” (Ron Netsky, Rochester 9/17/08). At 37 years of age, Toronto born Stewart has released nine albums as a leader and many others as a sideman and has performed in Brazil, Taiwan, Japan, and all over New York, Europe and North America. He was one of the first jazz artists to be invited to play at the historical Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. He can be heard Tuesday nights at Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, New York.
A review by Artsopolis states of the duo: “Tenor sax Stewart projects ‘Sonny Rollinsesque’ big and satisfying tone, but has such an individual sound that he never gives the impression of reciting the lessons of his models. A major figure on the New York City bebop scene, pianist Tardo Hammer’s mastery of the idiom inspires awe—it comes through especially clearly when he strings together harmonic substitutions on the blues and rhythm changes.”
